At least 13 people were injured during a Ukrainian air attack on the North Caucasus republic of Adygea, regional authorities said Wednesday.
The head of Adygea, Murat Kumpilov, who had just returned from Moscow after meeting with President Vladimir Putin the day before, initially said a Ukrainian drone had struck an apartment building in the village of Novaya Adygea, located next to the city of Krasnodar.
However, in subsequent messages posted to Telegram, Kumpilov did not mention what kind of weapon was used in the strike, referring to it only as an “enemy attack” or “incident.”
Kumpilov shared photos of the badly damaged apartment building in Novaya Adygea. Nearly all of the building’s windows were blown out, and several balconies were completely destroyed.
Independent military analysts and exiled Russian media said videos of the explosion in Adygea suggested the apartment building was likely struck by a Russian anti-air missile that had lost course and not a Ukrainian drone or, as some pro-war military bloggers suggested, a long-range missile.
Ruslan Leviev, founder of the war monitor Conflict Intelligence Team, claimed it was the second instance of Russian air defense systems damaging Russian property in less than one week.
The Moscow Times could not independently verify those reports.
Kumpilov said 27 people, including one child, had been placed in temporary shelters after their apartments were destroyed in the explosion and subsequent fire.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense systems destroyed 52 Ukrainian drones in the skies above Krasnodar between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
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